Dragon People
The Dragon People are disciples of Kanedias, the Master Maker, who live in the city of Ashranc in an isolated region of the Far Country. The area is heavy with geothermal activity, and the Dragon People mine deep for materials. They are ruled by a leader called the Right Hand of the Maker. Origin Little is known about the origin of the Dragon People, but presumably Ashranc is one of the places where Kanedias came to seek out material for his work. He built up quite a community of disciples there, mining for material in the sulphurous earth. Since the death of Kanedias, the Dragon People have continued generation after generation to prevent his works falling into decay. Government The leader of the Dragon People is called the Right Hand of the Maker; Waerdinur is now the thirty-ninth person to hold the position. One theory is that, Jaremias, the assistant to Kanedias, was the first Right Hand of the Maker. Who else would Kanedias name his Right Hand? The elders of the Dragon People meet in a Gathering in the Long House to discuss issues. At least six must be present. They sit naked in the hot steam infused with “blessed spices”, on uncomfortable polished stones, around a fire-pit. Once issues are discussed the Right Hand of the Maker makes the final decision. Territory and Ashranc The home of the Dragon People is the city of Ashranc, in the high hills north-west of Crease. The settlement is carved into the mountainside, in a vast opening inside the mountain. It is a city built for thousands, though now they have dwindled to only few hundred. The region is heavy with geothermal activity. They consider the land sacred, the stones upon which trod the Maker’s feet. Whenever the Dragon People are sent on dangerous missions, they are given a pouch of their sacred soil. Most people in the Far Country fear them as Sorcerers and Wizards. Those prospectors that do try to settle in the region are killed; they leave their mark, the Dragon Circle, to ward off others. Culture and Religion The Dragon People are disciples of the long dead Kanedias, the Master Maker. They believe that the Maker left their ancestors there to prevent his works falling into decay. They burn to make the world as it was in the Old Time. The children learn the Maker’s teaching, so that the Maker’s work might be passed on. Their most precious artefact is the mechanical Dragon built by Kanedias coiled in their treasure chamber; beautiful, terrible, and strange. It is made from an unknown metal that even when very thin, cannot be bent. Within the Dragon, gears gently click and clatter, wheels slowly, slowly turned, and the faintest breath of steam issued from its vented nostrils. It was hard to judge its size, but its head is as long as a man. The Dragon People have mined in the mountain for centuries for the Dragon’s “food”, and believe it will awake in a year or two, with unimaginable power. The treasure chamber is a hill of money, of ancient gold and gem-encrusted everything. There’s also miners’ claims, bankers’ drafts, and wills to estates long ago divided. Where the treasures came from is a mystery, it may be just centuries of stolen loot. No children are born in Ashranc, due to some effect of the geothermal activity. Instead children of ten and under are kidnapped or bought from bandits. Children over ten years of age are not allowed, even at ten there are risks that they won’t assimilate; one such example is Crying Rock, who lived with the Dragon People until she was exile because she could not change. They record the names of their fallen on bronze sheets, to remind them of those who fought and of what was won, all the way back to the Old Time and beyond. They shave their heads, wear simple brown robes of undyed cloth, and a necklace with a piece of dull, grey metal in the shape of a teardrop, called a dragon scale. They speak a language incomprehensible to those who speak the common tongue, though Temple understands it, so it's possibly the language of the Old Empire. History Time was there were thousands of Dragon People, but like the Ghosts, they are dwindling. There are now only a few hundred living in Ashranc. Many of them fear the loss of their tradition, that civilisation will come, take their sacred land, and build bland copies of everywhere else. Still others worry that they have lost their way, hemmed in by doubts. Waerdinur is considered a good leader, strong, and loving, but full of fire; his certainty of the correct path, means soft voices that disagree are lost. Red Country The Dragon People have recently destroyed the prospectors who settled the village of Beacon, close to their sacred land. Meanwhile, Shanka are breeding in the deeper tunnels in the north, and need to be driven out. When the Dragon People buy a new group of children, including Ro and Pit South, their sister Shy South and surrogate father Lamb lead a group of mercenaries to Ashranc. They kill most of the people, raze the city, and steal the entire treasury. It remains unknown whether any Dragon People survived, as some three hundred were hunting Shanka underground north of Ashranc when it was razed, and unseen assailants hounded the mercenaries as they left Ashranc and killed several of them.Category:Factions